Yummy Easter Specials Galore!

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail, hoppin' down the bunny trail. Waiter, would you ask that rabbit to refill our tea, please?

In honor of one of the most important family dining times of year, here is a sampling of some restaurants featuring Easter specials. Add to this in the comments section if you are a restaurateur and would like to have our readers know about your Easter specials. Thanks.

Chef Doug Brown (Dish), is offering an Easter Jazz Brunch at the Orion Ballroom

in Oak Cliff, five minutes from downtown at 400 South Zang Street, 15th Floor, from 10 until 3. This is the Bank of America Building. The Orion Ballroom sits atop it. Chef Brown is featuring a lavish array of salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, smoked salmon, carving stations with ham and steamship of beef, an omelet station, pasta and fajita station, plus a temping array of cakes, pies and desserts. The price is $24.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids under 12. Make reservations by calling 214-942-1661 or email brunch@theorionballroom.com.

Lavendou Bistro Provençal Owner Pascal Cayet and Executive Chef Francois Soyez are offering something for almost everyone at their Easter Brunch.
First Course: Soupe Froide de Concombre (Cold Cucumber Soup); Prosciutto et Melon Sauce Sangria (Prosciutto and Melon with a Sangria Sauce); Salade César (Traditional Caesar Salad); or Vol au Vent de Fruits de Mer (Mixed Seafood served in a pastry shell).

Second Course: Oeufs Poché Norvegienne (Poached Eggs on an English Muffin with Smoked Salmon and Spinach); Filet de Sole au Crabe et Champagne (Filet of Sole with Crab Meat and Champagne Cream Sauce with Basmati Rice); Gigot d'Agneau Provençal (Roasted Leg of Lamb with Gratin Dauphinois); or Poitrine de Volaille Chasseur (Breast of Chicken with Mushroom, Tomatoes and Demi-Glace Sauce with Fettucini).

Dessert: La Tarte au Citron Meringuée (Lemon Tart with Meringue); Profiteroles au Chocolat (Ice Cream Filled Pastry Puffs with Chocolate Sauce); Feuillantine aux Fruit Rouges (Mixed Berries in a puff pastry with Chantilly cream); or Gâteau au Fromage (White Chocolate Cheesecake with raspberry coulis).

Easter Sunday, April 4 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Lavendou's Easter Brunch is $29.95 per guest, plus beverage, tax & gratuity.

Lavendou is located at 19009 Preston Road, Suite 200, in Dallas (75252). Make reservations by phone (972-248-1911), fax (972-248-1660), by e-mail to provencial@aol.com or through their web site, www.Lavendou.com.

The Capital Grille is offering Easter Brunch from 1030 until 230 and suggesting you might want to try a dry aged steak or some fresh seafood along with one of their 350 wines. This is starting to sound like a celebration. Brunch is $35 per person (the wine is extra). Call 214-303-0500 for reservations. Or go to this reservation site.

Chef David Bull welcomes you to Easter brunch at Bolla in the Stoneleigh Hotel from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. He is offering a special three-course prix fix menu for $36 ($48 with Champagne and Mimosas) and $18 for children. Call 214-871-7111 for reservations. Or email reservations@stoneleighhotel.com. See details of Easter Brunch and other special events at the Stoneleigh here.

Boi Na Braza in Grapevine has an Easter special, offering their full course meal, huge salad bar and desserts for $47.50 per person. This is the place to go if you're hungry and want meat and more meat. They'll be open special hours on Easter from noon until their last seating at 8:45 p.m. Call 817-329-5514 or 81-251-9881. Or email julio.matheus@boinabraza.com. Located at Highway 121 at Hall-Johnson.

Cadot Restaurant is offering a three-course Easter Brunch for $29.95 person from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Call 972-267-5700 for reservations. Here's the menu:

FIRST COURSE
Duck Terrine With Pistachios And Truffles
Or
Tropical Gazpacho
Or
Poached Eggs In Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Smoked Salmon Hollandaise Sauce
Or
Warm Goat Cheese Salad With Baby Mixed Greens And Balsamic Vinaigrette

SECOND COURSE
Crusted Almond Tilapia on a Bed of Risotto, Served with Champagne Sauce
Or
Lamb Chops with French Fries and Green Beans Served with Curcumin Sauce
Or
Short Ribs with Horseradish, Mashed Potatoes and Celery Root Puree, Topped with Baby Arugula

THIRD COURSE
Chocolate Heart with Mixed Berries and White Chocolate Sabayon
Or
Cherry Clafouti Ginger Confit
Or
Floating Island with Caramel Sauce

Chef Avner Samuel and Aurora offer a Kamen Estate Wine dinner on Tuesday April 6th.

It's a six course affair featuring Kamen Cabernet and Syrah with special guest Robert Kamen, winery owner and screenwriter. Whose projects include The Karate Kid series (including the new film), the Transporter Sereis, and his ode to Napa Valley winemaking "A Walk in the Clouds" starring Keanu Reeves. The dinner is $150 per person. Call or email for a reservation, 214-528-9400, or auroradallas.sbcglobal.net. No slipping any "blockbuster screenplay" ideas to Mr. Kamen.

Happy Easter! Cheers! Jim

Dining is Divine at "The Dinner Club with Jim White"

We are so excited to be hosting our next great "Dinner Club with Jim White" special event at Tre Amici, along with our good friends from Centennial Fine Wine and Spirits. The four-course dinner and wine pairing takes place on Wednesday March 31st beginning at 6:30. If you haven't been to Tre Amici you will find that prime steaks are their claim to fame. One of the items featured for our dinner that evening just happens to be a succulent prime beef filet mignon. This hand selected, center cut steak is wet-aged for over 40 days before it is traditionally prepared. We'll be enjoying that along with Italian Sausage Risotto paired with a a Windy Lane Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. The menu also features Smoked Salmon Bruschetta with Amici Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2007; Beef Carpaccio paired with Angels Landing Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2008; Lobster Bisque with Windy Land Napa Valley Merlot 2005; and for dessert, Chocolate Truffle Cake served with Rocca Cerrina Brachetto, N/V. Should be a delicious evening. Please join us by calling Tre Amici and making your reservation: 972-250-4400.

In case you missed it along the way, the best restaurant deal we have heard of is still going on. While, there may not be a "free lunch". There IS a FREE dinner. At least every Monday at Trece and Villa-O. What's the deal, you ask? It's an email promotion for fans who are on the email list of the two restaurants. They offer a free two-course Mexican or Italian dinner every Monday night. If you're not on the mailing list, call the restaurant of your choice and ask them to put you on the list. In fact, the email I get every week just says "call the restaurant and make a reservation". For Trece phone 214-780-1900. For Villa-O phone 214-780-1880. Don't see any strings attached to this. Just the restaurants' way of attracting customers in a still down economy on a typically slow night. Also a very smart marketing ploy by owner Robert Colombo. Now, I ask you, if you're going for a free dinner, aren't you going to order a couple glasses of wine, likely have dessert and tip your server appropriately? Yep. Me, too. And, that's exactly what they're counting on. Oh, and that you might want to come back in on a Wednesday or a Saturday, of course. Bon appétit!

The folks at Dali Wine Bar and Restaurant in One Arts Plaza have a very special evening coming up on March 24th. In case you missed Chef Joel Harloff's sensational offering at Savor Dallas, you get to try his great food in a four-course, four star pairing with sensational Krupp Brothers, Stagecoach Vineyard from Napa Valley (also at Savor Dallas in case you weren't). The evening starts with a Champagne reception and then the evening progresses through some great vintages from Krupp Brothers. Proprietor Paul Pinnell has put a humdinger together here. It's $100 plus plus. And seating is limited for this (because the restaurant is so delightfully small). Call in a hurry: 469-385-9360 or visit the website for more details on Dali.

If you have a child who is an adventurous diner, then you may want to take advantage of a new promotion from Hibashi Teppan Grill and Sushi Bar. Throughout April, one child per family dines free at Hibashi. Here's the fine print from the restaurant: "one child up to the age of 12 per family of four eats free". They can sample foods from either the Teppan grill or the Sushi bar. The Kids Eat Free promotion does not include gratuity. To make your plans, phone 972-620-3474 or e-mail info@hibashi.com.


Headed to New York? Here's an item we picked up from "Zagat Buzz" about the one the coolest places in Manhattan and one of the world's top chefs. Enjoy.
Everything is slightly magical at ABC Kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s organic farm-to-table concept opening tonight on the first floor of the ABC Carpet & Home building in NYC. From the salvaged entry doors covered with distressed mirrors to the antique chandeliers to the bar that contains a little diorama filled with mini crystals, small sprigs and a tiny Ganesh statue – it all feels like a fairy tale come to life. The whimsical boho style is an extension of ABC-founder Paulette Cole’s vision. Read more here.

Cheers! Jim

Another "Dinner Club with Jim White" event is coming

We have been pretty good at getting around town for our "Dinner Club with Jim White" special events. From Oak Lawn to Oak Cliff; from downtown and Turtle Creek to North Dallas. Now, we venture farther north on the Tollway for a wonderful event at Tre Amici Prime Steakhouse and Seafood. Watch this space for the exact date coming in just a few days. We know our friends at Centennial Fine Wine and Spirits will have some incredible wines to pair with the cuisine at Tre Amici. We are really looking forward to seeing you again. Get more details at our website. Bon appétit!

Savor Dallas turned out to be another great wine and food weekend. And the weather really cooperated! I love hitting that window of sunny and warm weather in between cool, rainy events that have become pretty prevalent this winter. If you attended this weekend, THANK YOU! Please let us know how we can create a better event for you next year. We also want to take a minute to thank the great chef community for their support of the International Grand Tasting on Saturday March 6. Also, a special thanks to Seventeen Seventeen Restaurant, Culinaire International, Wolfgang Puck Catering for their support of the Arts District Wine Stroll on Friday March 5th. A big thanks to the fabulous restaurants of One Arts Plaza for participating in three venues with signature cuisine samples. I heard great comments about how well the taste treats paired with the wines. Here's a special toast of thanks to Chef David McMillan at Screen Door, Chef Joel Harloff at Dali Wine Bar and Restaurant, and the culinary teams at Jorge's, Tei-An and Fedora Restaurant and Lounge for their participation.

Some folks have noted that the time allotted for the Arts District Wine Stroll-5 until 7 p.m.-is not enough time to get around to all of the five Wine Stroll locations in a "leisurely manner". Due to performances in the Meyerson Symphony Center and the Winspear Opera House beginning at 8, we can't extend the tasting time beyond 7 (they Wyly Theatre didn't have a performance that evening, but likely will in future years on when the Wine Stroll is staged). We will look for ways to work around this timing issue in 2011 so that folks don't feel "rushed". We know many of the guests loved the ambiance at the Nasher Sculpture Center so much and the wide array of tasting available at the Meyerson that they only went to those locations instead of getting around to all five (Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher, Meyerson, Winspear and Wyly Theatre). We appreciate your feedback, and are always working to make the Savor Dallas experience better and better.

More news you can use about wining and dining coming up, and stay tuned for some exciting improvements and innovations on our "Dinner Club with Jim White" website.

Cheers!
Jim